How tradespeople get named in AI answers

Directories fill the gap when the site is not ready

In that East Anglia run, ChatGPT cited a trade directory in 90% of county answers — Checkatrade alone in 85%. Restaurants, dentists and solicitors do not look like that. The engines fall back to a marketplace when there is no crawlable trade-and-town page to recommend instead. launchAEO exists so your site becomes that page.

Reviews help. They do not replace a website.

Named firms had more Google reviews than unnamed ones. That is not a reason to skip the site. Gemini already reads contractor websites when it names someone. A listing can get you onto a shortlist. The site is how you get recommended as a business. launchAEO is built around that site: can AI read it, what to fix, and who the answers name.

Checkatrade now sits inside ChatGPT as an app

If the only public page about you is a directory profile, that app will send the job there. A site launchAEO can score — trade, towns, jobs, in HTML — is how you get named as the firm, not as a row in someone else’s marketplace.

Whether your website can be the source, not the directory

Gemini named fewer firms and quoted contractor websites. A JavaScript brochure is a blank to that engine. launchAEO scores whether the HTML contains the trade, the towns and the jobs you actually do.

Whether the van, Google and the site are one firm

Three trading names is three businesses. The reviews and listings screen exists because identity drift is how a real firm becomes un-nameable.

The specific trade, not a blended “home services” score

Plumbers, electricians, builders and roofers do not share registers. Growth questions stay on the job the customer typed, so you can see whether launchAEO moved you onto the recommendation.

What’s wrong

The website never says the trade, the towns, or the jobs in text.

Why it matters

Assistants quote sentences. If those sentences live only on Checkatrade, Checkatrade gets the citation. Gemini already prefers the contractor’s own site when one exists.

How to fix it

Write the trade, the towns and the jobs in HTML. The free launchAEO check is whether a crawler sees them — that is the first step to being recommended.

What’s wrong

Google, the site and any directory use different names.

Why it matters

Split identities look like split firms. The engine will not pick one.

How to fix it

Pick one trading name. Use it on the site, Google and any listing. launchAEO’s listings check is there to catch the mismatch.

What’s wrong

There is no page for the job people actually type.

Why it matters

“Boiler”, “EICR”, “loft”, “storm leak” are the prompts. A single “services” dump matches none of them well.

How to fix it

Give each job its own page. The action plan turns those gaps into the next pages to publish, so the next answer has something of yours to cite.

Checkatrade

The fallback ChatGPT used in 85% of those county answers — usually because the firm’s own site was not ready to be cited.

MyBuilder

Another public jobs board engines open when they cannot quote you.

TrustATrader

Google AI Mode’s second directory after Checkatrade, same gap.

Which? Trusted Traders

A vetted list that shows up when the model wants a scheme. Useful proof — not a substitute for the site launchAEO scores.

How do tradespeople get named in ChatGPT answers?

Start with a website AI can read: trade, towns and jobs in HTML, under one name that matches Google. launchAEO shows whether the assistants can load it, what to fix, and on Growth whether you are the name in the answer. Directories and registers support that. They are not the product.

Why does ChatGPT cite Checkatrade so often for trades?

It is an anomaly. Other industries get cited from their own sites. In that East Anglia study ChatGPT pointed at Checkatrade in 85% of county answers because most of the 9,759 firms had not given the engines a site worth recommending. launchAEO is how you become the exception.

Should every trade use the same playbook?

No. That is why plumbers, electricians, builders and roofers have their own pages here. Shared gap — the site is not ready — different registers and different prompts. launchAEO runs the checks that belong to that job.

Where does a trade firm start in launchAEO?

Free: can AI read the homepage, which issues to fix, whether listings match. Starter: more pages. Growth: who the assistants named on the job questions. That is the path onto the recommendation.